CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
1 Samuel 16:7. “The Lord said.” “In like manner the Lord in the days of His flesh read and answered men’s thoughts.” Compare Matthew 12:25; Luke 5:22, etc. (Biblical Commentary.) “Outward appearance.” Literally the eyes. “The eyes, as contrasted with the heart, are figuratively employed to denote the outward form.” (Keil).
1 Samuel 16:9. “Shammah.” The name is written Shimeah, 2 Samuel 13:3; and Shimma, 1 Chronicles 2:13; 1 Chronicles 20:7. The proper orthography is probably that in 2 Samuel 13:3. He was the third son of Jesse, and father of Jonadab “a very subtil man, Ammon’s friend,” 2 Samuel 13:3, and of Jonathan who slew a giant of Gath, 1 Chronicles 20:6-7. (Biblical Commentary.)
1 Samuel 16:10. “Seven,” i.e. including the three who had already passed. It appears from this, and from 1 Samuel 17:12, that Jesse had eight sons; but in 1 Chronicles 2:13-15, only seven are ascribed to him.” (Bibical Commentary). “Samuel said to Jesse.” “It is not till this verse that the words ‘to Jesse’ are added, expressly indicating an address of Samuel to him. It does not, however, follow from these words, that Samuel made Jesse a sharer of the divine secret.… That address to Jesse is merely a negative declaration that the divine selection, with which Samuel was concerned, and which in the absence of express intimation of its nature might refer to the prophetic office, rested on none of these seven sons.” (Erdmann).
1 Samuel 16:11. “Sit down;” literally, turn round, or surround, i.e., not sit at the table. “The ancient Hebrews sat round a low table with their legs crossed, as the modern Orientals do, for the luxurious practice of reclining was not introduced into Judea until a late period of Old Testament history.” (Jamieson.)
1 Samuel 16:12. “Ruddy,” red, or auburn-haired. This was regarded as a mark of beauty in a country where the hair was generally black. Josephus refers the expression to his tawny complexion.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 1 Samuel 16:6-12
THE ANOINTING OF DAVID
I. There is a tendency in even the best men to be carried away by appearances. Because Eliab’s countenance was comely and his stature imposing, Samuel said at once, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before me.” Yet he knew nothing of Eliab’s inner man, and he knew from the sad example of Saul that external beauty was no guarantee of internal worth. The estimate that men form of human character must always be grounded on outward manifestations, just as the physician forms his estimate of the state of a man’s health from the symptoms which present themselves to his observation. They cannot do as God can—penetrate into the hidden recesses of both soul and body, and read there as in a book the exact condition of the physical and moral nature. Man should therefore be very careful in pronouncing a judgment or forming an opinion concerning his fellow-man, remembering the “Lord seeth not as man seeth; he should not be hasty to decide, but should wait until the character has had time to develop itself—until long experience and observation have in some measure qualified him to be a judge in the matter. To argue that because a man possesses gifts of person or of intellect he is also the possessor of moral worth, is more foolish than to argue that a man is wealthy because he is dressed in gay clothing, and yet everyone of us is prone to be influenced more than we ought to be by outward appearance, and to form our judgments of those we meet upon very insufficient grounds. Even this prophet of God was not free from this weakness.
II. However men may err in their estimate of men, God’s estimate will decide who is to come uppermost. No member of Jesse’s household thought it worth while to call the shepherd-boy in to partake of the sacrificial feast, or to bring him under the notice of the man of God; but the feast notwithstanding had to be delayed until his arrival, and it was concerning him that Samuel heard the Divine voice, saying, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” There is always a levelling force at work in the universe, which only needs time to place each man where he ought to be—lifting up this one and putting down the other—making the last first and the first last according to the moral worth of each. This levelling force is the hand of God, who will see to it that no true man of worth shall lack position and opportunity to let the light that is in him shine forth to the glory of God, and the good of his fellow-creatures. God’s election and approval is not always so perceptible to the eye of man as it was in the case of Jesse’s youngest son, but it is always as real and as certain. Some men do not reach their destined throne among their fellows until they have left the world; they must pass away from earth before men can realise that a king has been among them. It may be that many who have lived and died in obscurity are yet awaiting their coronation day, or they may have been elected to high and honourable service in another world. However this may be there is a deeply-rooted conviction in all who confide in the righteousness of the Judge of all the earth, that no moral king shall miss his throne. Appearances may be strongly against it, but appearances were likewise strongly against the fact that the despised and crucified Nazarene carpenter was He who at the right hand of God should judge the world and receive the homage of the universe. But time has made the one truth certain, and it will establish the other. It must be so—
1. Because God can never be ignorant of what His creatures are best fitted for.
2. Because no selfish motive or lack of power can ever interfere with the justice of His dealings.
3. Because the infinite goodness of God must make Him ever in favour of using any good that He finds in His creatures for the benefit of the race. The subject teaches us—
(1 Samuel 16:1.) That moral worth is the true beauty. All the beauty of material things is but a shadow of a higher beauty—of that beauty which makes God the most beautiful Being in the universe. As He is a Spirit, and cannot be apprehended by our senses, that which makes Him the object of admiration and worship to the best of His creatures is that beauty of goodness which appeals to their spiritual nature. And the truest and highest beauty of men or angels is that beauty which is of the same kind as God’s.
(II.) We should form our standard of excellence upon God’s standard. To honour and exalt a man for any superiority of physical beauty or birth, is to render him homage for that for which he is not responsible, and is consequently most foolish. Yet it is a mistake into which men often fall. But in this respect, as in many others, God’s thoughts are not as man’s thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. If we are wise we shall, so far as finite creatures can, make God’s standard of excellence ours, by looking not at the outward appearance nor regarding external circumstances, but by giving our honour and confidence to those who possess the “beauty of the Lord God.” (Psalms 90:17).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1 Samuel 16:6; 1 Samuel 16:12. Difficulty of selecting men for important positions.
1. Causes (a). Intrinsic difficulty of properly estimating character. (b). Management of partial friends.
2. Lessons (a). To avoid haste in deciding. (b.) To make diligent inquiries.—Translator of Lange’s Commentary.
1 Samuel 16:6-7. So when godly men see their neighbours lovely in their lives, civil in their practices, high in their profession, strict in performances, they, according to their duty, say, inwardly at least, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him, these are the blessed of the Lord, anointed to the kingdom of heaven; but God may often answer them, Look not on their profession or their performances, for I see their hearts, that they serve not me, but themselves of me … Observe at what a high rate that which is nothing worth is valued in a time of famine. Truly so, there is such a scarcity of true godliness, that godly men, who exceedingly long for the advancement of Christ and Christianity in men’s hearts and houses, prize and encourage anything that cometh near it.—Swinnock.
1 Samuel 16:7. Muscularity is not Christianity, and bodily beauty is not holiness. Not how you look, but what you are, ought to be the first care of your lives; for if you have a selfish disposition, a sordid soul, or a sinful life, your outward beauty will be like “a jewel in a swine’s snout,” and your bodily vigour will only be like the strength of a safe in which nothing worth preserving is locked up.—Dr. W. M. Taylor.
Objectors to the history of the Old Testament have dwelt much upon the title, “the man after God’s own heart,” which is continually given to David. “Is he not,” they have said, “directly chargeable with adultery and murder.… Is this the man whom a righteous God would declare to be the object of His special complacency?” … Divines have met these questions with an answer of this kind: “The epithet which you complain of belongs not to David personally but officially … He did the work he was appointed to do. He fulfilled God’s counsel. So far he was a man after God’s own heart.” … A very little reflection upon the words themselves, still more a slight study of the history of David, should surely have prevented any man from employing this kind of apology. “God trieth the reins.” That general principle is here applied expressly to the case of David.—Maurice.
I. A solemn thought. He knows fully all that characterises the inward and spiritual nature of man.
II. How comforting! You may be misunderstood by men. Your purest motives may be misinterpreted … But there is an appeal to the Judge of all.—Steel.
1 Samuel 16:11. One of our greatest poets once remembered this question of Samuel’s after he had studied and mastered the writings of the most prominent philosophers and wise men of this world, and had found in none of them anything stable and satisfactory. Then with scorn he wrote these lines:
“Ach ich war auch in diesem Falle!
Ais ich die Weisen hört’und las;
Da jeder diese Welten alle
Mit seiner Menschenspaune masy
Da fragt ’ich! Aber sind sie das
Sind das die Knaben alle?”
This case was mine too when at leisure,
What all the sages wrote I read,
When with their small wits they would measure
The wealth of worlds around us spread:
I thought of Samuel then, when he
Made Jesse’s sons in row appear,
And when the seven were counted, said,
Are all thy children here?
Goethe.
O that this prince of poets had not after all omitted to count in One!—Krummacher.
It was certainly not by accident that the son on whom the Divine choice fell was at the very moment keeping his father’s sheep.… His early employment had a direct and Divine bearing on the latter.…
1. As a shepherd, the sense of responsibility to another was powerfully called into exercise. The flock was not his own. In keeping it he was acting merely as his father’s servant.… The servant-feeling thus beautifully called into play was transferred, in full integrity, to the higher sphere of the kingdom.…
2. The shepherd-occupation of David led him, from its very nature, to seek the welfare of the flock. It demanded unceasing attention to its condition as a whole, and to the state of each several animal; frequent exposure to danger, and constant readiness to sacrifice his own ease or comfort.… These were the ideas of duty with which David became familiar as a shepherd. And when his charge was changed these ideas of duty remaining in his heart, and influencing his public conduct, made him the eminent ruler he became.…
3. In his office as a shepherd David had constantly to study the increase and improvement of the flock. It was not enough for the shepherd to keep the flock as he got it. The flock was not properly kept unless every season brought a great increase to its number. The same thought manifestly influenced David’s kingly administration. He constantly consulted for the progressive improvement and elevation of his people.…
4. The shepherd employment of David, by leading him to give special attention to the weak, helpless, and distressed of the flock, trained him for one of the most blessed and Christ-like functions of a godly ruler.—Blaikie.
When we look forward in the light of Divine revelation, the early part of David’s consecrated life contains many typical elements as factual prophecies or pre-figurations of the future. His shepherd life—continued after he was anointed, in which on the one hand, self-consecrated, he immerses himself in the contemplation of God’s revelation in nature and in His word, and on the other hand must be ready at any moment to meet the greatest dangers, and exhibit boldness and prowess (1 Samuel 17:34-37)—presents on these two sides types of his religious life as king, the Spirit of God developing on the basis of this double natural ground two sides of his character which not merely co-exist but are interwoven with each other:
(1) intensively the innermost concentration and immersion of his thoughtful meditative heart into the depths of God’s revelation of His power, grace, and wisdom in nature, word, history, and into the depths of the sinful human heart, whence sprang in his psalms partly the inspired praise of God, with furtherance and deepening of the knowledge of God, partly advance in the natural grace, lacking condition of the human heart;
(2) extensively his admirable energy and heroic courage in the life of conflict which he had evermore to lead. In the hiddenness of his royal calling from the people, the gradual ripening of his inner life for his office, and the lowliness of the sphere whence he was raised to the throne, he is a type of Christ, who sprang from him according to the flesh.… passes His holy youth in privacy, and then at the end of this Divine-human development steps forth from the lowliness of a natural human life as the King of Israel, who completes in his person and work God’s revelations for the establishment of His kingdom on earth, and therein enters on the war of subjugation against the ungodly world.—Lange’s Commentary.